Condemning Death
by Singing Muse
Summary: If there was such a way to punish Death, nothing would be it.


**Notes-** I wrote this as a prequel to 'Dreaming Gods' to better explain Saturn's situation but I suppose it can be read as a standalone story though. I wanted to mirror the events that took place in the S Arc. And in the case of Saturn's name, I made it so planetary names like Saturn or Pluto or any of the other Planet's work as titles (in place of princess or Queen). In the case of Saturn:

_Morana-_ a Slavic goddess associated with death, winter and nightmares. Some sources equate her with the Latvian goddess Māra, who takes a person's body after their death.

* * *

><p>Long ago it was said that the Gods wished to walk among their people. No one knew why.<p>

Perhaps for companionship.

Perhaps for love.

Perhaps for their own amusement.

They would forgo their heavenly bodies and poured their essence into children. These children grew and they ruled as they must and then they died, and so the Gods within flew to another body. And then another, and then another.

They had done this for many millennia and all such prophecies of their rebirth were greeted with joy and celebration.

All but one, who's very breath brought ruin and silence throughout the entire galaxy.

The forbidden god created his child in the shadows in the darkest corners of his Castle. Born from the darken mist she was. Not by a womb or from the earth's soil. But by the air and the stars and the ashes that danced to a silent song. She was granted life by a being that—when she opened her black eyes and breathed—she did not understand fully.

Death had given her life and that was the first thing they feared about her.

And when the last of his will flattered into the mind of a Mars Maiden and spoke from her red lips, Queen Serenity wept into her hands.

For the first few months of her life, it was as if she was an animated doll. She roamed the endless condors of her palace, draped in black, purple, and gold, with her servants behind her. She wandered about, with her head turning this way and that, and studied everything about her with eerie curiosity. She did not speak to anyone and—when she looked upon someone with her round black eyes—it was as if winter had fallen in their heart and their body had frozen over.

Some had even said that having her eyes on them was like being dead for just a moment.

But other than that—other than having the eyes of the dead and the wonder of a predator—this girl, this _Goddess_, had done no harm.

Yet it did not stop them—dressed in their heavy army and their swords and their shields—from rushing into her Castle as if they were in the middle of the war and tearing her chamber doors down. It was in that instant, swarmed by images of metal and steel, that the child of Saturn felt emotion for the very first time.

Fear. Confusion. Anger. It all swirled in her eyes and dripped themselves onto her pale face as arms came and forced her onto her knees. Under the bangs of her black hair she saw the color of their armor and she hissed in her rage.

_For they were her own soldiers. _

"What is the meaning of this?"

"Silence!" A voice screamed back at her. Low, rough, but feminine and strong. She saw sandy hair and emerald eyes filled with hate. A silver blade, clean encrusted jewels shining in the candle, pointed at her neck. The woman glared at her and lifted a hand to the soldiers—_her_ soldiers. "Bind her in chains."

Metal cuffs enclosed her hands painfully and she screamed, thrashing away from another hand that dared to chain her neck and feet as well. "Stop this!" She demanded, feeling the hard yank when she was finally bound. Her black eyes turned to each of them and she yelled, "What have I done? What is my crime?"

"Birth…" A melodic voice spoke, stilling her movements and calming her heart. A white light followed the woman as she came into room and all those within bowed their heads in respect. And she knew it was Queen Serenity that had graced her with her presence.

The Queen frowned at the bound child and spoke again, "Your birth brings us much misfortune…That is your crime."

"…so my existence is the offence?" The girl laughed and smiled at her sadly, "You've come to kill me? You are not as kind as they say then…"

But Serenity shook her head still, "I am sorry but no…You would be reborn again and again…" The silver haired woman raised her hand and the soldiers forced the child unto her shaking legs, "So we must confine you to a different fate."

There was hope for just a moment; hope that she would be exiled or stripped of her powers, but then she knew nothing was that simple and the girl's face fell in shock and fear when the realization hit her.

"Y-you cannot!" Tears fell and she was dragged, kicking and pulling for her freedom, "Please! You cannot be that cruel!"

The Queen did not listen, yet she followed behind them. Followed them, wrapped in her white light, as they descend into the planet below. They dragged her into a room filled with darkness and forced her in front of a large hole with nothing inside.

What a perfect place to punish Death.

In the core of Saturn.

The girl wept and struggled against the chains wrapped around her and turned to the White Queen with the most desperate of pleads.

"Please…do not damn me to this fate…"

Queen Serenity stared at her with great sadness and shook her head, biting her lip. She heaved in a sigh and stood straight, her beautiful face still as stone. And there, she laid down her final judgment.

"Goddess of Saturn, your presence in this world means nothing but death to us all. As such, the Rulers of this System have thus sentenced you to an eternal sleep."

"_I'D RATHER YOU KILL ME!"_ She shrieked and her voice, panicked and pitched, bounced off the walls of the chamber and stopped dead when it reached the hole. The girl looked down at it once more and turned her glance back to the Queen and met her eyes. And that's when she saw it.

The White Princess with her smiling face and the night in her eyes.

_Selfish._

She knew it and so did the Queen.

For that Serenity shed a tear and, turning her face away, said, "I am sorry, Monara…"

_How dare she speak her name. _

And that is when she truly knew she had been condemned

"Uranus…please…"

She was pushed by a gust of air and suddenly all around her seemed to become quiet and slow. The world swirled and blurred. She felt the chains weight her down and send her plunging into the darkness below which grabbed and choked her like an angry monster.

The last thing she saw before her vision went black was the Queen's white light and her mournful, beautiful face.

She was truly cruel to leave her with such an image.

It was there she wondered—after being denied both life and death—if this is what nothing was like.


End file.
